05 October, 2009

There are many milestones that we reach rather quickly in a small, young business. Many of them go unremarked, like "our N-thousandth order" or "our first shipment to Russia," or "a record number of packages on the Fedex truck." Today's feat, however, can't go unacknowledged, as the weird convergence of customer loyalty and warehouse accuracy will likely never be repeated.

One of our customers has placed his 50th order. Amazingly, we have never messed up a single order of his (that I can remember, and he'd better not disabuse me of this idea), nor has he ever returned anything or complained. His comments, if there are any, are simply: "Thanks!"

Obvious attempts to reach the magic 50, like ordering one set of drop-out screws one day followed by one roll of cloth tape followed by one MKS dustcap followed by one $.55 bell mount, will be flagged. And then there's that "nice customer to deal with" effect you have to be aware of....

Well, I've only got about 40-45 orders to go...and for the record, I'm one of those "one set of drop-out screws one day followed by one roll of cloth tape followed by one MKS dustcap followed by one $.55 bell mount" type of customers. But it's not me, it's my meager paycheck!!

Who's next? This is encouraging news. I have 49 more orders to go! But between you and me, I have 101 % satisfaction with my previous order. The order was received in a timely manner and was exactly what I ordered! And I could tell it was filled by someone who cared passionately about cyclotouristes. You know who you are. You won't get that from Nashbar.

I don't want free shipping. Just receiving a unique product, one that I really need and can't get anywhere else is reward enough. Of course, free shipping would be desirable.